72 
ANIMAL CURIOSITIES 
if they be placed in dark or muddy water 
they become of a brown hue. 
Minnows, sticklebacks, and trout also have 
the power to alter their colour to suit their 
habitat. 
The late Mr. Buckland relates that a certain 
fishmonger of his acquaintance was able to 
tell the locality from whence the trout dis¬ 
played in the latter’s shop came, by their 
colour alone; and in a like manner a fish¬ 
monger at Billingsgate professed to be able 
to judge from which part of the coast the 
various fish were procured. 
There can be no doubt that the colour of 
the waters wherein fish live has a distinct 
bearing upon the tint of their bodies. Trout 
which dwell in clear and fresh water are bright 
in colour, while those found amidst waters 
that have become discoloured by peat are 
dull and almost black. It has also been 
observed that the fish that resort to the deeper 
parts of a river are of a darker colour than 
those that frequent the shallows. 
It is interesting to note that the silvery 
appearance common to so many species of fish 
is due to the presence of numerous and very 
small crystals which repose upon the scales. 
The bright red, blue, and green colours, how¬ 
ever, that decorate the bodies of other fish, 
